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Welcome to St. Mary’s CE Primary School

Part of the Minerva Learning Trust

Dear Parents,

I hope that children settle happily into the routines at school and that you, as a parent, willalways feel welcome here and make full use of the opportunities offered to be a part of yourchild’s education. Parents are a child’s first and most important teacher. Once at school,however teachers become another big influence in a child’s life. They have a very important andprivileged role to play. But school will only be truly influential when parents and teachers areworking together for the good of the children.

School is a balance between happiness and hard work; I want your child to enjoy and love theirlearning, their friendships and be proud of all they achieve in and outside of the classroom.

I want to see every child achieve the highest standards of which they are capable – thisincludes doing as well as they can in tests.  But tests are only one measure of a child’s ability. I

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also believe that children need to be valued as individuals and given the opportunity to developtheir artistic, spiritual, musical and sporting prowess as well as learning to be responsiblemembers of the wider community. Every child is different – they look different, behavedifferently, develop at different times and different rates, learn at different times and in differentways.   I want to build self-esteem and help our children to become happy, contented andfulfilled individuals. They then have a firm foundation on which to rise to any challenge.

WELCOME TO ST MARY’S – where everyone can shine….

Yours sincerely,

Helen Farmer

Headteacher

St Mary's has been awarded 'OUTSTANDING'  following a recent inspection. The Inspector

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commented on the care and support given by the school, excellent results, and the respectshown by  pupils. Saying " The school is a harmonious and joyful place to be".

Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (September 2015 full report underParent Zone).

  

School gates open at 8.40am and the school day starts at 8.50am.

Autumn term ends Friday 16th December 2016.

Half term 24 - 28th October

INSET 20 - 21st October

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Our vision is to create a kind and caring community, where we can have fun learning together,and where everyone can shine.

We provide education within the context of Christian belief and practice. We encourage throughsupport and challenge an understanding of the meaning and significance of faith and spirituality. We believe in enabling young people to develop tolerance and respect through a wideunderstanding of all faiths and beliefs.

St. Mary’s Beliefs:

- We will be friendly

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We will be helpful

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We will be truthful

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We will work hard and try our best

- We will show respect

- We will look after our school. 

St. Mary's School serves the community of Bridport

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On behalf of our school community may we extend an open invitation to you and your family tovisit St. Mary's Primary School, Bridport. We are happy to show you the school at work at anytime - please ring the office to arrange an appointment.

Recent News

HP Sprout - St Mary's gets their hands on a HP Sprout Pro!

Oxfordshire based leading technology solutions provider European Electronique, inpartnership with HP Inc. UK, recently held a competition. St Mary’s CE Primary School  werethe winners! The prize was presented to us by HP and a group of Year 3 pupils were excited totry it out. Initial activities will be to design a 3D character which can be used in the games theyhave developed so they can see this character participating on screen.

Welcome - to our new reception children who are settling in well in Cygnet Class. Alsowelcome back to our pupils and families. It is lovely to see so many old and new friends, welook forward to a packed autumn term with many wonderful events including the Autumn Show,Pandemonium Theatre and the year 6 residential.

Achievers and Leavers - well done to all of you who received a reward and tophy at our end ofterm service in St Mary's Church. It was a wonderful occasion and so many of you made yourfamilies and the school proud, well done.

Silver Celebrations - We celebrated in style with lots of activities and refreshments for currentand past staff and families. The children entertained our visitors and the sun finally decided toshine!

Colfox Talented, Able and Gifted - Many of our pupils have joined in the enrichment activitiesthis term at Colfox. This has inspired them and enabled many of them to work with otherchildren in the Bridport local area. It was also lovely to see some past pupils in a special eventat Colfox where they have participated in a range of activities showing key life skills; likeresilience throughout the year. Well done to everyone involved.

Wessex FM - Next week (4th - 8th July) some of our children will be on the radio at 6.30 and8.30 each morning. They will be talking about school, Bridport and being famous.

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Choir - our choir joined other local schools in a wonderful Gospel Workshop at The Sir JohnColfox School. They were taught by a group from London and sung beautifully.

Bridport Food Festival- St Mary's joined in with Bridport in celebrating both the QueensBirthday and the Festival. The school kitchen provided freshly made lemonade and melon andginger juice whilst the polytunnels provided an opportunity for all to see what we grow. Cakesbaked by the children to be healthy for our queen included carrot cakes, blueberry muffins and alovely beetroot and chocolate cake. Prizes were awarded by the Deputy Mayor and hergrandson Thomas. The children dressed as royals for the day and designed some lovelyaccesories for her majesty and her corgis.

Eco-Schools Green Flag - We had our assessment visit on 24th May for this prestigiousaward. The children were brilliant at demonstrating the work put in across the school and theassessor was very impressed. I am pleased to report we have been awarded Green FlagStatus. The work of Miss Legg supported by pupils, school cooks, Home Project and familieshas quite rightly been recognised as being something to celebrate, well done to all involved.

Visiting Theatre - What a treat for the children to see a live performance of The Lion The Witchand The Wardrobe. The cast were fantastic and the children very involved in the struggleagainst good and evil. As you know Aslan triumphs over the queen and all ends well in Narniauntil the next time.....!

Litter Pick - Thank you pupils and staff who have been spending time clearing our schoolgrounds. We have a lot of rubbish thrown over fences from the football field, car park and theamenity space to the rear of our field. You have made a real difference.

Cricket - Well done St Mary's Cricket team you played really well and Mr Farmham is veryproud of you all.

Church Visits - Thank you to all our local churches who have invited their linked class; sharingwith them insights into the wider role of the church. 

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Safer Internet - All classes, parents and staff were visited by the safer Schools officers andlearnt about internet safety, social media and use of other mobile devices.

Year 6 - Well done for your positive attitude and determination during SATs. You deserved yourtrip to Freshwater, we are all very proud of you.

Composting Assembly - We all really enjoyed learning about how to make compost. It wasvery interesting to learn what to put in our school compost bins; some of the things were a realsurprise!

Pets in school! - Year 4 have enjoyed their class project on pets. Many of them presented theirproject showcasing their pets. The children were confident speakers overcoming nerves andenjoying telling their friends how to care for each animal. Our thanks to their parents for helpingwith this and of course all the animals involved.

Choir - Our children joined pupils from the other Minerva Learning Trust schools to entertainthe Mayor. They sung songs about the local area celebrating 'Walking the Bounds' of Bridport.

Attendance - Well done almost a quarter of our pupils had 100% attendance last term.

Diamond Achievers - I am very proud to say that 42 children reached Diamond last term andwere treated to a well deserved Easter Egg Hunt. These are the children who always make theright choices, give their best and are ready to learn, well done all of you.

Easter Show - Another year of colourful and creative art inspired by Easter. Thank you to theschool parents association for hosting this annual school event.

Romans - Year 3 enjoyed their school trip to Maiden Castle where in full costume they

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re-enacted a Roman Battle. The costumes were made by the children with the support of DiMarsh our school's expert artist.

Welcome to the army! - The children enjoyed a wonderful afteroon of activities led by PadrePete's Regiment. The soldiers were brilliant with all the children aged from 4 to 11 years old.

Aliens land at St Mary's - As part of book week staff and pupils have been dressing up asaliens. The week started with an assembly led by Miss Proctor showing the alien booksavailable to read in school. Dress up day on Wednesday showcased all the wonderfully creativecostumes and on Thursday pupils exchanged book tokens. Our thanks to Waterstones forjoining us during Book Week.

St Mary's Mile for Sport Relief - Many classes are starting the mornings in training for SportRelief when we hope to raise money for this worthwhile cause. This starts promptly and childrenneed to have safe and appropriate footwear please. 

Year 3 are currently studying the Romans and as part of their work in class, they have been making Roman roads. They have really enjoyed finding out how they were constructed andwhere they were built and why. They will be visiting Maiden Castle and meeting with the curatorfrom Dorchester Museum.

Waste Wizards - All our pupils have been entertained by the Waste Wizard and become moreaware of re-cycling. The Eco-club are also working hard towards Green Flag Status bymonitoring our electricity and gas consumption. They are holding everyone to account if theyleave lights or computers etc. on. The staff are all having to check to make sure they are notnamed and shamed!

Cross Country - Well done all of our runners who accompanied by Mr Farnham finished thecourse. Conditions were  wet, muddy and slippery underfoot but no-one gave up, you areamazing and we are very proud.

Chickens in school! - Our reception class were delighted when Mrs Batorska and her son

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Daniel visited with their chickens. Currently enjoying the much loved story of Chicken Lickenthey were thrilled to be able to hold a 'real' chicken and get some answers to their questions.Year 1 were also invited to meet the visitors.

Reading Challenge - I am delighted that 75 pupils in years 3-6 have made a great start to2016 by taking up the headteachers Reading Challenge to read at least 25 selected books fortheir age group by July. Successful reading will gain them a Kindle but more importantly a loveof reading for the rest of their lives!

Choir - The school choir joined the service at St Mary's Church on 20th December and it was aprivilege to hear them sing. Tim the organist has supported them over the last few weeks andwe know our choir will to continue to make us proud

Nativity Plays and Carol Service - The children in reception and years 1 and 2 performedbeautifully to their parents and the rest of the school. Well done to Narrators and actors for agreat start to the Christmas Season. We are very proud of our year 5 & 6 children who learntthree songs in sign language with the help of Leslie and Jenny for our carol service.

Christmas Fair - Well done and thanks to our Friends of St Mary's team who raised in excessof £1400. The childrens cooking sold very well as did the raffle. We are grateful to families andfriends who came along and supported us.

Lighting the Candle - Well done year 6 for achieving Silver Award. We know you are nowworking towards your Gold Award.

Autumn Show - Many wonderful pictures and models from all age groups depicting the coloursand creatues of this season. Well done to all entrants and a huge thanks to our judge Jo andFoSM for organising this event.

Night of Honour - well done to pupils and staff who made this an evening to remember. It waswonderful to recognise the exceptional people and businesses in Bridport with awards andcelebrate together.

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Democracy at the Electric Palace - well done to Mrs Carter and her class who joined BillyBragg on stage to sing about Democracy and songs of freedom.

Trips out and about - Most classes have been busy in the local area this half term with trips to;Bridport Community Orchard, Arts Centre, Perrot Hill School, PGL Weymouth and of courseswimming at the Leisure Centre.

Eco-Schools Silver Award -I am very proud of the hard work from Ms Legg and the Eco-teamwhose efforts have been rewarded by this prestigious national award, well done.

Cake Sale - Well done year 6 who following an assembly on refugees arranged a cake sale toraise funds to help them. They raised just under £70.

School Admissions - Please ensure that if your child is in year 6 and ready to go on tosecondary school or due to start school in September 2016 you contact admissions to put inyour application. They are on the Dorsetforyou website.

A visit from a Lobster - Years 3 and 4 welcomed a local fisherman in school on Friday. Totheir great delight he brought with him a live lobster. They learnt about local fishing and whatcreatures were caught in the nets and lobster pots.

Our Queen - We have looked at pictures of our Queen over the last 63 years of her reign.Some show her role as head of state but others as a mother, grandmother and greatgrandmother. The children have been able to think about how lives can be similar and yet sodifferent.

Generosity - is our theme for this half term and the children are reflecting on the ways they canbe generous. We have shared the story of Johnny Appleseed and the Widows Mite.

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Welcome back - Our thanks to all the people who have worked over the summer to make theschool look so good.  The new pond area is looking great thanks to keen staff members, Magnaand our Eco-Club; we are looking forward to using this resource with our children and families.Staff have been in painting the fence, getting the classes ready and mopping up after a leakingroof caused a lot of damage inside. It is lovely to see the children looking so smart in ther newuniforms, they have settled well and are enjoying their learning and friendships. This term weare looking at the Creation Story and each class will be representing one day for our foyerdisplay. It will be another full and exciting term with many activities to look forward to!

Goodbye Year 6 - You have been amazing and your leavers performance was outstanding. Weall wish you the best as you move into secondary school. We know you will do well.

Achievers Service - What a wonderful celebration for our pupils who had achieved in so manyareas of school life. Awards for reading, progress, maths, science, sport were presented by MrShelley, Ms Proctor, Mr Doughty and Revds. Pete and Ann.  The children received Oscars,trophies and shields as well as books. Well done.

Lunchtime Awards - To Rebecca and Jonathan for trying new foods and being polite all term.

Year 6 - Well done Year 6 for excellent SATs results; you have worked really hard and yourachievements show this.

Diamond Awards - Once again we were able to reward our Diamond Achievers, the youngerones joined the headteacher for a T-Party with plenty of food and games to enjoy. Revd. PeteStone finished with the much loved story The Tiger Who Came To Tea. The older children wereinvited to Bellringing at Bradpole Church. Well done to all of you for always making goodchoices in your learning and behaviour we are very proud of you.

Wind In The Willows - a wonderful story performed by an amazing cast. Toad was performedtrue to the character in the story with a great deal of ebullience and was supported by truefriends who tried hard to moderate his behaviour. Huge and heartfelt thanks to our parents andstaff for their hard work and support.

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New Intake - A warm welcome to our new reception class who have been visiting the schoolover the past few weeks. They have settled well  joined us for a final Teddy Bears Picnic beforewe broke up for summer.

Sailing - Our Year 6 class enjoyed learning how to sail on Portland and of course how tocapsize!

Quad Kids - well done to our team who spent the afternoon involved in this event hosted byThe Sir John Colfox School.

Bridport Food Festival - It was wonderful to be able to showcase the St Mary's Edible Gardenas part of the Festival. The pizza oven was kept really busy and guests enjoyed the storytelling,composting, sowing seeds and information about companion planting. A huge thanks to all ourhelpers and supporters.

Art Week - Incredible work across the school in the style of; Kadinsky, Monet, Gwen Millward,Georgia O'Keefe, Hockney and Issey Miyake. In addition some wonderful Aborginal Art andpreparation of props for our Wind In The Willows production. Thanks to all our helpers whobrought great ideas and energy.

Well Done Year 6 - You were fantastic during SATs, we are really proud of you.

Environmental Health - Congratulations to Mel and Mandy who have been awarded 5 starsfollowing a visit to the school kitchen from the West Dorset District Council for the National FoodHygiene Rating Scheme. This is in addition to their Food Safety and Hygiene City & Guildscertificates.

Election results - following hard campaigning by all parties the Gold Zero Party wereannounced winners in assembly on Friday 8th May 2015. Their pledges on health and housingwill be followed up by invitations to the school nursing service and Magna Housing Asssociationto discuss some of their concerns. Well done to all the classes who got to grips with the keyelements of a democracy and gave careful consideration to what they thought would make this

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a better world for all.

Multi-Academy Trust - further details can be found under our Newsletters section of thewebsite.

Able and Interested - We are very pleased that selected pupils were able to engage in thesespecial events laid on by The Sir John Colfox School . It is a greatopportunity to extend their skills and knowledge with other pupils who share their talents andinterests.

Election Fever - All our classes will be designing their own party to make a better world for usall. They will design a manifesto describing how they will tackle :-

- The Enviroment, - Health and Housing, - Education - The Economy

We go to the polls after some serious campaigning on 7th May and results will be announcedon Friday 8th May at 9.00am.

'Big Questions' - Children were asked to think of a question they would ask God if he was satacross the table from them.  Their answers were thought provoking and showed a keenunderstanding of some of the issues in the world today. Questions like 'Why do people have tobe seperated into different countries?' and ' Why do we have to have wars?' Equally some ofour younger children were more concerned to find out if God likes birds and why annoyingsisters were invented!

New Intake September 2015 - Welcome to our new reception children due to join us inSeptember 2015. Mrs Geldard will be writing out to you all with information and a welcome bookmark. We look forward to meeting you soon and know you will settle in well at St Mary's.

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Well done to Connor who won the Waterstones Book Week prize!

The Great St Mary's Bake-Off - well done to all the staff who rose to the challenge to raisefunds for The Clock in Chideock and Cupboard Love. The baking creations were marvellousand included British favourites like Bakewell Tart, wonderful quiches and a profiterol mountainwith spun sugar. We raised over £160.

Diamond Achievers - well done to the 33 children in the spring term who consistently triedtheir best in all areas of school life. They enjoyed an Easter Egg Hunt as their well deservedreward. It is lovely to see the number of Diamond Achievers has risen since last term and I amsure we will be proud of even more children in the summer term.

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